Violence Against Medical Doctors: Doctors in India Are Now Taking Courses On Self Defense

This initiative has been taken by Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA)
FORDA is preparing healthcare professionals to fight the menace of violence against doctors
There have been cases of mob attacks on doctors

DR Birendra Kumar is a pediatrician who used to work at Delhi government’s Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, but now, he runs his own private clinic in Bihar. An attack by a violent group of relatives of patients depressed him to the extent that that he planned to leave the city.

“It was May 29, 2017 and I was posted at casualty of Sanjay Gandhi Hospital. A child in critical condition, gasping for breath was brought to the emergency. We tried to manage him, but patient’s condition was so serious that he could not survive. As soon as we informed his family members about the demise of the patient, about 20-25 people came in, held us hostage, and attacked us. My hand got fractured. That day itself I decided to return to my home town.”

Dr Kumar is not the only one, the list is endless. Therefore, in order to save themselves from such mob attacks at work place, doctors across the country will now be given self defense training. This initiative has been taken by Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA), a body which works for the welfare of doctors in India.

According to FORDA, doctors who face such violence often go into depression, develop insomnia, post traumatic stress, fear and anxiety.

FORDA is preparing healthcare professionals to fight the menace of violence against doctors in the country.

The project will start from Delhi’s RML hospital. “Team FORDA is starting Sashakt Chikitsak initiative to train doctors how to rescue themselves when there is a mob attack. But this does not mean that doctors will also attack on patients’ relatives. FORDA has collaborated with a private agency to train healthcare professionals. As of now, we are working on the first module. Workshops will be conducted nationwide. It will comprise of two sessions: physical training (70%) and class room learning (30%). We have written to the Resident Doctors’ Association of all the hospitals to take part. Later we would include paramedical staff, nurses, technicians into the training programme,” Dr Sumedh Sandanshiv, President, FORDA told Mail Today.

Meanwhile, Dr Rizul Saini, head of RDA at Sanjay Gandhi Hospital said that after that major incident of attack on doctors, the hospital administration has tried to strengthen the security system.